PHILADELPHIA — In past years, when ESPN
lacrosse producer John Kettering has stood in a production truck
outside an NFL stadium on Memorial Day, looking across a bank of
camera feeds, he's often found himself transfixed on the SkyCam
view, although his job entails to keep tabs on much more. The
cable-suspended camera hovering above the field is his
favorite.

"For our money, SkyCam works on lacrosse as well, if not better,
than any other sport because the nature of the game," Kettering
said. "It's really cool to watch. I have a hard time spreading my
attention to all of the other cameras that we have because I have
such a great time watching SkyCam."

If he were to be sitting at home this Monday or out and about
with smartphone or tablet in hand — like plenty of other
lacrosse fans — instead of directing multi-media traffic in
Philadelphia along with lead director Jimmy Platt, Kettering would
have his druthers.

The Division I men's national title game will be shown live via
SkyCam view on ESPNU, ESPN3 and WatchESPN beginning at 1 p.m. ET,
while the game is broadcast in traditional form concurrently on
ESPN. The SkyCam feed on ESPNU will include replays from the ESPN
broadcast, scoreboard graphics and announcer audio.

Open space in the ESPNU lineup helped with the decision —
a series of re-airs were scheduled for the same time slots
originally on Monday afternoon — but the added SkyCam-only
option for viewers also fits into ESPN's vision of how sports fans
are now consuming their entertainment.

"We thought it would be a great idea, just to cater to the
lacrosse fan with something they can watch maybe on their tablet
while they're watching the game, which would just enhance the
overall experience," ESPN coordinating producer John Vassallo
said.

"Our research tells us people watch multiple screens now. We
want to serve the sports fan on every screen possible," said
Vassallo, who also works on ESPN's college football coverage. "We
know a lot of people, through some of our program services, will
sit and watch college football on Saturday and they'll sit there
and watch ESPN Goal Line on their iPad, while they're watching on
the TV, so they can get quick look-ins on other games. That's the
way people are consuming their sports now. This is sort of an
extension of that."

This is the first time the SkyCam view will be shown on what
ESPN calls a linear channel — ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews
— but it has been available on ESPN3 in the past, although
not last year.

"We're bringing it back in a bigger way," Vassallo said.

Coaches in the Studio; Yale's Shay Up Next

ESPN has brought in Virginia coach Dom Starsia, Johns Hopkins
coach Dave Pietramala and Lehigh's Kevin Cassese (for a second
straight year) to its studio over the last two weeks to serve as
guest analysts for tournament coverage. Yale's Andy Shay will do
the same on Saturday during the semifinal broadcasts.

Make no mistake: these coaches would rather be on the sideline
in polo shirt and cap rather than in a TV studio wearing a suit and
makeup. But the time spent in the studio has its advantages for TV
and coaches alike, Vassallo and Kettering said.

"I thought Dom and Dave did excellent. To have coaches of their
experience, background and awareness of the tournament, just makes
the coverage better," Vassallo said. "They brought up really good
points, but they also put it in perspective. That was invaluable to
have."

The TV time also presents the chance for coaches give themselves
and their program's exposure that they otherwise wouldn't have.

"The coaches are becoming more and more willing to get on the
air," Kettering said. "They do believe it helps with
recruiting."

Vassallo is the one who asks the coaches if they want to serve
as analysts.

"They didn't really want to get the call from me," Vassallo
said, tongue-in-cheek. "I spoke to Andy on Monday and he had barely
gotten the taste of the Saturday loss [to Syracuse] clear from his
mouth, and I'm hitting him up about doing TV. He wasn't exactly
cheery, but he was gracious enough to agree to do it."

'Super-Duper' Slow Motion Camera

ESPN has used slow-motion replays on lacrosse before, but a new
camera for this year will take them to another level. Producers
have included a NAC high-end camera in this year's
plans.

"It's super-duper slo-mo," Kettering said. "We're going to be
able to pick up just how quick the ball moves, goalie reaction or
lack of reaction when goals are scored. Emotions run so high after
goals are scored. We'll be able to pick up a lot of that with this
camera as well. We're pretty excited about that."

Shot-Clock Timer Toggled Off

The so-called invisible shot clock rule instituted by the NCAA
for 2013 — with a 30-second countdown administered by
officials' after stall warning is put on — put television
producers in a tricky situation. How do you show a shot-clock
countdown to viewers at home without an actual clock on the
field?

The question led ESPN's emerging technology group to develop a
shot-clock timer device that has been worn by officials during TV
games this season. The idea was to have an official toggle a switch
on and off when a stall warning was put on, and have that start and
stop linked to ESPN's production truck. Success has been
inconsistent this year.

This weekend an ESPN staffer in the stadium who communicates
with its production truck, will turn the countdown on and off based
on the officials' signals on the field. The on-field device will
not be used, "so the refs can concentrate more on what they're
doing on the field," Kettering said.

"Our emerging technology group did a great job developing this
system. It's just that every field you go to there are different
subtleties about the transmission of it; the officials change; some
officials remember to hit the timer, some don't," Vassallo said.
"We're in a good place as far as what we thought we'd be at the
beginning of the year, but in no way, shape or form are we hitting
it 100 percent."

A physical shot clock at lacrosse venues across the country
would avoid the headaches.

"We would be very happy for clocks to be displayed," Kettering
said.

Odds and Ends

All of the officials in this weekend's games will be mic'd up,
and each will wear different color arm bands so ESPN production
team can identify which official they want audio from during a
given broadcast... Don't expect any tear-jerking halftime features
during this weekend's games, although you will get updates on the
most notable on-field storylines such as Rob Pannell's pursuit of
Matt Danowski's all-time NCAA Division I points record and a look
at Bill Tierney and John Desko's history of coaching against each
other.

LaxMagazine.comwill have complete coverage of championship weekend with
features, live blogs, post-game reaction and more. Be sure to
follow@LacrosseMagon Twitter
for instant updates as well.